New vote scheduled on landfill proposal

The Regional Recycling and Waste Reduction District board in Pulaski County will meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday to hold a public vote on a certificate of need for a proposed landfill expansion.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported last week the district’s board held a vote through a private email chain, three weeks after hearing opposition to the measure at a public meeting. After the newspaper’s report, district leaders said they would hold another vote.

Votes by email are not allowed under Arkansas law; votes by public bodies must occur at meetings for which the public is notified and given an opportunity to attend. The district’s board is made up of the county judge and mayors of the county’s six cities with populations exceeding 2,000 residents: Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood, Jacksonville, Maumelle and Wrightsville.

Central Arkansas Recycling and Disposal Services, located off Ironton Road in Little Rock, intends to expand its landfill on 30 acres of property purchased from Pulaski County.

The certificate of need is required for the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality to consider applications to expand or build landfills or new transfer stations.